Cornflake Chicken Breast Baked in the Oven: Easy Recipe
Since chicken breast bakes quickly and easily, this dish makes a handy option for a fast breakfast or dinner. All you really need to do is turn on the oven, coat the chicken in breading, brush the pieces with butter and bake. The recipe needs no special or hard-to-find ingredients.
Dishes like this are typical of the so-called “country” cooking found across the Americas. Recipes can vary a lot, but the main difference is usually the breading. Breadcrumbs are often mixed with various spices, powdered milk and dried herbs, and cornmeal or semolina is frequently the base of the coating.
Farmhouse recipes in America are often called “ranch” style. Some have become near-classics with their own names reflecting where they come from. The breading contains cornmeal or, more often, crushed cornflakes, plus plenty of hot spices and even cheese – the mixture is closer to a paste or a thick batter.
It's worth saying that poultry breast has always been popular with cooks: it's affordable, inexpensive and cooks in no time. The world-famous Chicken Kiev is made from fresh white chicken meat – the recipe is simple and the result is delicious. A piece of butter with herbs is always tucked inside the rolled breast.
Ideally, the meat should never have been frozen – that way it loses less juice while cooking. If you can bake a homegrown chicken, so much the better. And of course, don't use a bird that's too “old” – save it for broth.
A chicken breast fillet usually has a small tenderloin attached to the larger piece. The tenderloin often flops around and just gets in the way, plus it's thin and can start to burn, so it's better to cut it off. You can use regular breading, like for Pozharsky cutlets, or buy a small box of cornflakes – just not the very sweet kind. What matters is that they give you a crispy crust.
Ingredients
2 servings
- Chicken breast fillets 2
- Cornflakes 50 g
- Butter 50 g
- Salt, black pepper, paprika, dried herbs, dried onion and garlic to taste
- Chili pepper, fresh rosemary optional
Step-by-step recipe
- Oven-baked chicken breast is served in portions, and one fillet is enough for a main course at lunch. Of course, you can add a side dish – I prefer coleslaw, it goes best with it. Pick large fillets, ideally from a homegrown or farm-raised chicken.
- There's no need to pound the meat – it's cooked as a whole piece. Carefully trim the fillets of skin, fat and any bits of bone. In a cup or small bowl, mix ground black pepper and salt. Rub the fillets with the mixture and leave for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, pour the cornflakes into a blender – you need about 50 g, which is usually half a small box. Add 1/2 tsp of sweet paprika, granulated onion and garlic to taste, and a few dried herbs: oregano, parsley, dill, savory.
- If the cornflakes are sweet, add some salt and a little hot red pepper so the sweetness doesn't stand out. Pulse the cornflakes in the blender to coarse crumbs. Don't leave them too coarse – the breading won't stick to the chicken – but very fine crumbs won't show at all. For the oven-baked chicken to get a nice shaggy crust, some of the flakes should stay in 1.5-2 mm pieces.
- Melt the butter without letting it get hot. By the way, authentic recipes often use margarine. Brush the chicken with the melted butter – a silicone brush makes it easy. Then roll the meat in the breading. Get a baking dish of the right size ready.
- A glass or ceramic dish works best – all the fillets should fit in it snugly. Grease the dish with butter and lay the breaded chicken in it. Drizzle the rest of the butter over the meat, or better yet, brush it over the breading.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and put the dish with the chicken in. Chicken breast usually cooks fast – in 15-20 minutes the meat will be done. After that, go by the color of the breading: it should turn golden and slightly crispy. If needed, baste the top of the chicken with the juices that collect in the dish.
- Take the finished chicken out of the oven and transfer it to serving plates. Drizzle it with the leftover butter from the dish. If you like, pour some mild tomato sauce into a small sauce boat and put it on the plate. If you're serving a side dish, it's best served separately.
- Baking chicken breast in the oven is easy. By changing the spices you can give the dish exactly the flavor you want. Sometimes, when we have it, we put a sprig of fresh rosemary in the dish before adding the chicken. Instead of tomato sauce, a sauce made from fresh tart berries – cranberries or lingonberries – is delicious too.
Serves: 2 servings Calories: 180 Prep: 15 mins Cook: 30 mins Total: 45 mins Category: Main Dishes Cuisine: American cuisine Rating: